You won't see a new BMW RT for about 18 months in the states, maybe 12 months, but the plan is for the GS to test the waters before changing the line up. BMW has finally solved the rear end issues, now they have fuel pump controller issues, it is always something when you push technology far to fast.

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Solved the fd issue? I thought they solved that in 2000, 2005, and one more time in 2007?

This video may help you wrap your mind around it. There is another one I cannot seem to find that helped me 'get' it. The key is that the rotating structure is on a movable axis. If it is on a fixed axis it will not work. Since the tires are attached to suspension, it works in this case. The key is that when the tire starts to spin fast enough to vibrate, the beads move around randomly, and they happen to land in spots that reduce the vibration. The beads in essence 'migrate' to the locations that stop the vibrations. Then they stop moving.

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I am in on a bucket o' beads as well. This is the video I saw a couple of years ago that allowed me to believe in this magic:

Not dyna-beads, but a similar model of a product for large trucks. They freeze frame some shots to show you where the beads move to. This idea seems like a great idea for all vehicles. That is until a bunch of beads end up on a road surface and mingle with traffic.

Hey guys... I heard something through the grapevine that I wanted to pass on as a precaution. A guy came through the car wash today that I hadn't met before and we got to talking about bikes. Apparently he has a couple KTMs that he rides around at the TG. Well this past week he heard about a guy getting his truck stuck near the railroad tracks, driving along side them. Apparently that brought a bunch of recent attention to the area. This guy lives right near there and was an older guy so I don't think he was jerking my chain.

Apparently his wife works right over near the Martin's and she saw a whole grip of authorities over there, from Land Management to local cops, with a big black SUV and a damn paddy wagon right over in the corner of the lot where people usually enter. :eek1

There are only a couple of ways out of there and I just wanted you all to know the risks. I'm damn sure not risking my new bike and daily driver for a few hours of fun. Guess I'll be heading to the mountains a bit more often than I figured this summer.

Hey guys... I heard something through the grapevine that I wanted to pass on as a precaution. A guy came through the car wash today that I hadn't met before and we got to talking about bikes. Apparently he has a couple KTMs that he rides around at the TG. Well this past week he heard about a guy getting his truck stuck near the railroad tracks, driving along side them. Apparently that brought a bunch of recent attention to the area. This guy lives right near there and was an older guy so I don't think he was jerking my chain.

Apparently his wife works right over near the Martin's and she saw a whole grip of authorities over there, from Land Management to local cops, with a big black SUV and a damn paddy wagon right over in the corner of the lot where people usually enter. :eek1

There are only a couple of ways out of there and I just wanted you all to know the risks. I'm damn sure not risking my new bike and daily driver for a few hours of fun. Guess I'll be heading to the mountains a bit more often than I figured this summer.

Just wanted to throw it out there. Be careful boys.

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The training ground properties are owned by HMK LLC and Development Associates of Va LP.

The President of both companies is Johnathan Pearl. He works at GSC Corporate, which is right around the corner from the TG on Hathaway Rd (all three companies have the same address).

(this is all public info BTW, figured it out with a bit of Googling) We should ask for permission.

Hey guys... I heard something through the grapevine that I wanted to pass on as a precaution. A guy came through the car wash today that I hadn't met before and we got to talking about bikes. Apparently he has a couple KTMs that he rides around at the TG. Well this past week he heard about a guy getting his truck stuck near the railroad tracks, driving along side them. Apparently that brought a bunch of recent attention to the area. This guy lives right near there and was an older guy so I don't think he was jerking my chain.

Apparently his wife works right over near the Martin's and she saw a whole grip of authorities over there, from Land Management to local cops, with a big black SUV and a damn paddy wagon right over in the corner of the lot where people usually enter. :eek1

There are only a couple of ways out of there and I just wanted you all to know the risks. I'm damn sure not risking my new bike and daily driver for a few hours of fun. Guess I'll be heading to the mountains a bit more often than I figured this summer.

Just wanted to throw it out there. Be careful boys.

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Sounds like the guy may have been running from the cops. I doubt all that manpower was used to wrangle a trespasser. Whether we ask permission to use this place or not, others are going to use and abuse the TG.
I'm amazed that place wasn't closed off years ago when there was an article in a "Best Of" issue of Syle listing it as the best place to go off-roading. When I saw that (in about '04) I figured that was going to be the last time I rode there.

BTW; I'm still digging around about the beads. Probably won't have to drop more than $80 for some from what I'm seeing.

We need you. Again this year my company is leading a Bridge Ride for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. It's a motorcycle tour through the countryside around Fredericksburg VA, designed to go over or under as many bridges as possible. The $$ come from the riders either donating or collecting pledges for each bridge we cross. The only rule is every rider has to generate some kind of donation (last year we did 60 bridges and raised over $2,500). Other than that, it's open to anyone - employees, friends, customers, passengers, any bike, anybody who can safely handle an intermediate-level ride of 4 to 5 hours, including several butt breaks. We'll stay off major highways and aim for twisty country roads; relaxed pace, but RAIN OR SHINE, we still go. ALL proceeds go to our Company Relay for Life team.

The 2013 Bridge Ride is the afternoon of Thursday 9 May, so now is the time to sign up to ride, to pledge, or to donate. I'll update the list of riders as it builds so you know who to pledge, or you can reply to this message with your pledge or donation. Again , we need you to make this even better than last year! Thanks for making a difference

Hey guys... I heard something through the grapevine that I wanted to pass on as a precaution. A guy came through the car wash today that I hadn't met before and we got to talking about bikes. Apparently he has a couple KTMs that he rides around at the TG. Well this past week he heard about a guy getting his truck stuck near the railroad tracks, driving along side them. Apparently that brought a bunch of recent attention to the area. This guy lives right near there and was an older guy so I don't think he was jerking my chain.

Apparently his wife works right over near the Martin's and she saw a whole grip of authorities over there, from Land Management to local cops, with a big black SUV and a damn paddy wagon right over in the corner of the lot where people usually enter. :eek1

There are only a couple of ways out of there and I just wanted you all to know the risks. I'm damn sure not risking my new bike and daily driver for a few hours of fun. Guess I'll be heading to the mountains a bit more often than I figured this summer.

Just wanted to throw it out there. Be careful boys.

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From what I've heard that area heats up every now and again, usually in the spring. A few yahoos go back there and get stuck or get hurt and the cops get called. Last year some clowns on quads tore up the gravel railroad bed and Norfolk Southern got upset. So the cops got called, a few people got tickets and the word spread that it's not cool to ride back there. And it got quiet. For a while.
My guess is that warm weather has brought out a few too many local brain surgeons riding quads or 4 wheeling in trucks. Someone has noticed and isn't happy about it. (Most likely the shopping center management.) So it's time to write some tickets to calm things down and make everyone happy. The paddy wagon will disappear soon enough. And there are other ways to access those trails anyways. (I've never seen any cops riding DS bikes back there and the Richmond cops I've talked to say their jurisdiction ends at the tracks. And they don't really care) When summer rolls around and the temps hit 90, "attendance" will drop off considerably.

back when I used to ride there it was known the area is patrolled. rpd has dual sports and will write you for trespassing.....FYI I'm not saying go or don't ....

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"Sponsored Rider"... That's awesome! I did "hear" that Richmond lost their DS bikes. Not in the budget, but still just hearsay. I still find it odd that RPD can send officers on bikes onto private property without being called in. Would that not be trespassing also? A former Richmond Detective (now K-9), who is a customer of mine, was the one who told me about the riding area and that I check it out. He said to drop his name if the officers on DS bikes got me. One of my other customers built those trails in the 1980's. It got too busy so he stopped going in there. My wife used to go into that area in high school to party 20 years ago. One of the kids actually had a key to the gate near Crestwood Elem. At this point the owner may as well donate it to the City, county or state as a dedicated and maintained riding area. If that area was not developed during the past economic booms I doubt it will be any time soon. I don't want to live or work between a highway and a RR track. Thanks for the Heads up Bastard.

kwn306- knowing that a new rt is not just around the corner helps. Looks like I need to research the final dive problem abit. I don't want to have to put a new one in every 50-100k.

The connie is out- I had a kaw and wasn't impressed. Ultimately I had bad service experiences, not impressed with the dealer network on the east coast, and I had various gremlens with the bike. I wish I knew about ken's back then and maybe my experience would be different. For me, time to try something different.

Guzzie Norge. Now that's different! Where would I get it serviced repaired and the like? I travel all over. How hard is it to find help around the US?

B.E. Coyote- tapatalk turned your text into yellow on white so I can hardly read it. Anyone know why this happens? Some setting I can change?

Roger123- lets get together so I can check it out. I'll have more time after this weekend. PM me with your info and best days/times.

kwn306- knowing that a new rt is not just around the corner helps. Looks like I need to research the final dive problem abit. I don't want to have to put a new one in every 50-100k.

The connie is out- I had a kaw and wasn't impressed. Ultimately I had bad service experiences, not impressed with the dealer network on the east coast, and I had various gremlens with the bike. I wish I knew about ken's back then and maybe my experience would be different. For me, time to try something different.

Guzzie Norge. Now that's different! Where would I get it serviced repaired and the like? I travel all over. How hard is it to find help around the US?

B.E. Coyote- tapatalk turned your text into yellow on white so I can hardly read it. Anyone know why this happens? Some setting I can change?

Roger123- lets get together so I can check it out. I'll have more time after this weekend. PM me with your info and best days/times.

Thanks!!

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I love Ken's Cycle. I was in there yesterday. They have only been a Kawasaki dealer, etc. for a year or two. They were Suzuki only up until then so you would not have been able to get their superior service back then anyway. I don't think you should rule out the Connie yet based on what you just stated. I had an FJR for a little while and loved it. I found myself going too fast too often and my wife stopped riding with me when my son was born so I sold it for the Tiger 800XC. I have talked to ST owners who loved their bikes too. Good luck with your search.

Hey Bastard, did you ever get over to the training grounds Sunday? I know you posted up, but I never heard back. I ended up riding there for a couple good hours. I can't believe how many trails are there. It is such a big place. The only two people I saw were two guys on little 50cc bikes. They were absolutely flying through the trails. It was impossible to keep up. Despite no ground clearance those little things can maneuver those tight trails well. I ended up breaking one of my side reflectors on the front. I still haven't got the bike inspected since I bought it. Hopefully they'll still pass me.